Top 10 Video Games of 2012

Wow it's been a while since I updated this thing! I'd wish you all a Happy New Year buuuuuut that'd be out of character! But yeah a few ups for me in 2012 a LOT of downs but the Video Games kept me breathing and busy. So these are the top 10 games I enjoyed in...

And no the world didn't end!

10.

Unit 13 (PS Vita)

The PS Vita had a bloody good lineup of games to be released close to the release of Sony's latest handheld console. Unit 13 is a third person shooter in which the player chooses from a selection of operatives, each with their own specialties, and decide how to go about the mission. Whether you wanna sneak in like 007 or run in guns blazing like Rambo.

Unfortunately it's glitched to fuck, making the Platinum trophy impossible to achieve!

9. 

Assassin's Creed Liberation (PS Vita)

Compared to other Assassin's Creed titles, ACL was shorter but good for playing on the move (as what handhelds are for). The story has nothing to do with Desmond Miles (Hero of the AC franchise. Well most of them anyway) but the gameplay runs just as slick as the bigger console titles and it's impressive to see just how much the PS Vita can do for graphics.

No problem earning the Platinum in this though!

 8.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 (PS3)

 

Another year, another COD. Black Ops 2 is the second installment (well actually 3rd technically when you count "World at War") in the Treyarch catalogue. Decent story, guns, gadgets and multiplayer. I was quite surprised with COD this year (last year) because it tried new things like setting the story 13 years from now and adding Tactical missions. I enjoyed the Zombie side game more in BO2 due to the fact it's more involved with other areas and new features such as crafting weapons and storing points in a bank vault.

It'll be interesting to see what Infinity Ward come up with in 2013...

 7.

Resident Evil: Revelations (3DS)

Survival Horror made a FUCKING awesome return with RE:R. With limited ammo, health and hard as nails monsters it gives the player a real sense of struggle to SURVIVE! And with atmospheric environments and an eerie soundtrack it brings out the HORROR as it should be done! It also shows that the Nintendo 3DS can show off some impressive graphics for a cartridge based handheld.

 

6.

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron (PS3)

I don't mind the occasional movie video game but I prefere a game that is based on a movie without having to actually replay the movie. Transformers: Fall of Cybertron is the sequel to War for Cybertron, both games are set before the first movie where the player lives out the events of the war for the machine planet. Featuring all the robots in disguise we love from the films and even more we loved from the cartoon series we all watched as a child (and if you didn't then you had no childhood!). The gameplay mixes the vehicles and robot shooting perfectly and of course what makes this game more SICK is Peter Cullen provides his voice bringing Optimus Prime to life once again! Who else could you have play him!? 

Co-op has been removed but it's still a kickass game!

 5.

Uncharted: Golden Abyss (PS Vita)

 

No doubt the best game for PS Vita! Set before the 3 Uncharted games we already loved on Playstation 3 (and you'd think it was running on one too), Nathan Drake finds himself in search of a lost City of Gold in order to stop a crazy General from looting it. It feels the same and plays just as smooth with some awesome extras using the touch screen. Epic soundtrack and action sequences, this game makes me feel sorry for any fan of the franchise without a PS Vita. 

 4.

LEGO Lord of the Rings (PS3)

 

One brick to rule them all? Yeah all LEGO games are practically the same but they're just so much fun to play! This is no exception for LEGO Lord of the Rings, bringing the trilogy to life in a unique a different way. One thing that makes this game pretty cool is the use of original lines of dialogue from the movies. Another is the open world Middle Earth the players can explore. Glitched like a bitch but then aren't all LEGO games?

The LEGOship of the Ring!

  

 3.

Resident Evil 6 (PS3)

 

I didn't think a 6th installment to the RE franchise was possible (with RE5 supposedly being the final chapter) but 2012 saw in the next chapter in a story that couldn't possibly go any further? Well it could apparently... or couldn't... I dunno. It takes Resident Evil to a whole level of action but not so much horror. Taking place in a new city with a new virus and some old villains. A good thing about this game is there are 7 playable characters to play as (teams of 2 and 1 if that makes sense?). All of their campaigns cross over amongst themselves at story intervals leaving no stone unturned. Only problem is although it has that many playable characters, it's still a short game (very short if you're good at kicking zombie arse like me) and the story was over after the final boss leaving no space for a sequel.

2.

LEGO Batman 2: DC Superheroes (PS3)

 

Being the sequel to LEGO Batman: The Video Game, it took LEGO games to whole new level with open world free roam of Gotham City. And although the title states it's a "Batman" game the player can be whoever the hell they want from the DC universe such as any member of the Justice League (DC's answer to Marvel's Avengers). Navigating the city to search for hidden extras, the player can use vehicles or simply fly using a character with the ability (Green Lantern, Supergirl, SUPERMAN!). It's also the first LEGO game to use actual dialogue and not just noises which made other LEGO games like Pirates of the Caribbean very hard to understand as a story if the player hasn't seen the films.

My copy of the game should be called LEGO Superman because for the majority of the game he's all I used!

BEFORE I reveal my favourite game of 2012 I wanna put in a word on my WORST game of the year! This game was pretty much doomed from the first trailer BUT it started to gain some potential as details were released. And I thought "Well it looks and sounds fun so why not!?" Famous last words as I went out and purchased...

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City...

If I could list all the bad things about this game then we'd never reach my number 1 game spot so to sum it up it's a *Inhales deeply* team based Zombie killing game like the SOCOM series but with SHIT A.I if playing Solo (I was being beaten to death by a Tyrant and my team just watched) with guns that have hardly any effect wherever you shoot the waves of undead which is all it is, waves and waves of undead until you're in the next area and the story!? Don't get me started! Uncanon to the RE universe with bullshit events taking place during the fan favourite, Resident Evil 2. The ONLY slight redemption for this game was the DLC was BETTER than the actual disc campaign! I only earnt the Platinum trophy in the game out of SPITE to Capcom!

Using a zombie as a hostage!? WHY!?

And here it is my NUMBER 1 GAME OF 2012...

1.

Assassin's Creed 3 (PS3)

 

Once again Ubisoft crafted a masterpiece that dominated my life (and wallet with spending over £200 on special editions and extras) with Assassin's Creed 3. Three years in the making it features a new engine, story and gameplay features. Following Desmond Miles as he goes back into the Animus and plays through his ancestors memories but this time as Connor Kenway. This giant sandbox game enables Connor to travel to cities such as New York, Boston and the Frontier lands in his battle against the Templars and their leader, his father Haythem Kenway (Who is British and an EPIC guy!). There are 12 chapters (sequences) that explore Connor's childhood all the way to his joining of the Brotherhood of assassins. Taking place during the American revolution (1753 to 1783) you cannot go 5 minutes without bumping into a historicla figure such as George Washington and Samual Adams.

The combat runs as smooth as my girlfriends arse!

New gameplay features include hunting challenges where the player can kill wild animals such as bears, cougers, deer and rabbits and sell their meat etc or use them to craft new items that aren't available to buy from shops. Your home area is called the Homefront and here you can give people you find in other towns a place to live where they use their special trades to help you develop new items and equipment (farmers, blacksmiths etc). But probably my favourite new edition is the Naval missions where Connor takes off the white coat and hood and becomes Captain of the Aquila as you take the fight to sea! Using cannons to take down other ships or to weaken them ready to be boarded it never gets boring to play these missions ESPECIALLY when the weather takes effect. Nothing beats a sea battle in a thunder storm with huge waves!

I got so into it I found myself shouting "FIRE!" along with Connor.

I sincerely hope Assassin's Creed 3 is not the final installment to the franchise. But we'll have to find out as 2013 progresses and already this year has some promising looking games such as DmC (Devil May Cry), Metal Gear Rising, Bioshock: Infinite, Tomb Raider, God of War: Ascention, GTA V, Injustice: Gods Among Us, The Last of Us and many more still to be announced. But for now I'll wish everyone a Happy New - PFFFT! Yeah right! 

I may have spent well over £200 on Assassin's Creed 3...

But all together..?

I gotta be Ubisofts number 1 customer!

Resident Evil: Revelations

Capcom

Hey folks how's life been treating ya? It's been a while since I updated my video game reviews but today I need the distraction so I thought I'd be creative. Having a Nintendo 3DS for nearly a year now I've got... umm... 5 games for it. As amazing as the console is, the release line up was a bit crap (unlike the PSVita line up tomorrow) and over the whole year there's not really been many major releases other than Zelda Ocarina of Time and Resident Evil: Revelations which I shall expand on today...

Story
Resident Evil: Revelations (which I shall refere to as "RER" because I can't be assed to keep typing its full title) is set between Reident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5 (again "RE4" and "RE5"). Chris Redfield (BSAA (Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance) agent and frequent steroid user) has gone missing (again) and his old partner, Jill Valentine, has set off to find him. Judging from Chris' last transmission he was last located on a Cruise Ship called The Queen Zenobia. However when Jill and her new partner, Parker Luciani arrive on board they find the entire ship to be overwhelmed with - you guessed it - zombies! Right? WRONG! It seems Capcom have chosen to swap the walking dead for a new variety of monstrous creatures created by the T-Abyss virus (a mutation of the original T-Virus) that kinda resemble the monsters in the Dead Space series... 

 
*SPOILER ALERT!*
But it turns out Chris is perfectly ok somewhere in the snowy mountains investigating an air strip with HIS new partner, Jessica Sherawat (a fellow BSAA agent who dresses like a hooker even when on a mission). So anyway Chris learns of Jill being sent to The Queen Zenobia in search of him and decides to rescue her as she may be in danger. And so they go only to find they're on the Zenobia's twin sister ship, The Queen Semiramis. Meanwhile back on the air strip, two BSAA agents known as Keith Lumley and Quint Cetcham are investigating it further only the discover the real location of the Queen Zenobia (y'know... the ship Jill and Parker are on? Keep up people!). Aaaaand so they go again to the right ship where they finally reunite and discover that the bio-terrorist organization, Il Veltro, responsible for the attack and subsequent outbreak in Terragrigia (an old city out to sea), is behind the T-Abyss virus... or are they?
*MORE SPOILERS ALERT!*
The answer is yes but they're merely a pawn used by Morgan Lansdale, head of the FBC (Federal Bioterrorism Commission). After much more digging and searching the team learn that there is a THIRD cruise ship! (you sure you're still with me?) The Queen Dido which is underwater and known as a ghost ship. Chris and Jill team up and swim down to the wreckage to find the leader of Il Vetro, Jack Norman who injects himself with the T-Abyss virus and becomes a Tyant known as "Ultimate Abyss". Chris and Jill do what they do best (Fuck. Him. UP!) and they all live happily ever after... or do they?
*FINAL SPOILER ALERT!*
It turns out that Jessica (the tart in uniform) is a traitor! (oh shock! A Resident Evil game with a traitor!) She is given a sample of the T-Abyss virus by a guy named Raymond Vester (a ginger, emo haired dude who worked with the BSAA) in a café and then... the credits role.

Jessica - the tart - Sherawat

Gameplay
RER has gone back to its routes of Survival Horror. I found myself frequently running low on ammo and health and resorting to knifing the hordes of undead. A new addition to the game is the Genesis Bio-Scanner which the player uses to scan enemies and the environment for hidden items. Once the player has scanned an efficient amount of enemies they will earn a hurb in order to heal themselves. I found this quite useful thoughout the game. Another new feature is the ability to swim for the first time in a RE game. Surprisingly it takes up a fair amount of gameplay and isn't just a little show off feature.

Could do with one these when stuff goes missing in my house!

During the gameplay you'll notice the enemies (known as Ooze) are quite the bastard to dispatch of. So Capcom have introduced weapon customisation in which players can boost their ammo capacity, firepower and chances of dazing an enemy enabling the player to sock them in the face (useful!). When I started the game I used the default settings and found myself aiming in first person which was kinda bogus and lame. That was until I learnt you can choose the "over the shoulder" aiming and went for that. I found the game to run a little smoother after this. Unlike other RE games the plot takes you to other locations to play as other characters in the story. I liked this as it added more confusion and shock in twisting the plot. The inventory is on the touch screen which made switching between 3 weapons of my choice and extra weapons such as grenades etc very user friendly. FINALLY a feature me and practically every hardcore RE gamer wanted has arrived... the use of reloading AND aiming whilst being able to move! About bloody time Capcom!

Over the shoulder FTW!

Once you've cleared the campaign on your chosen difficulty (Casual or Normal) you unlock the option to play through on Hell Mode which, I won't lie, is a BITCH! Less ammo and pickups and more enemies that just won't die! You also unlock Raid Mode which is both fun and addictive. In solo or with a partner, you progress through levels and take down enemies earning guns and custom parts you can't find in campaign mode. Upon finishing a mission you receive a rank of D to S. If you can't snag that S rank you can level your character up with better weapons and go back to find it a peice of cake. Leveling up and earning good ranks unlocks better weapons and more costumes for your chosen character. A personal favourite feature of mine is if anyone else has RER and they have their 3DS on sleep mode and you pick them up through Streetpass, you can fight them as a T-Abyss corpse in a random level. Made me laugh to kill my friend's boyfriend.

Presentation
I love the Resident Evil series. I remember being very young when watching my uncle play the first game on Playstation 1 and thought "I cannot do this game! It's for big kids." but after I found my testicles, I gave it a shot and found myself becoming somewhat a master of Survival Horror. When RE4 and RE5 hit the shelves they were not so much Survival Horror as they were action games. As much as I enjoyed them I found no challenge in them. But with the return of the Survival, I was overjoyed working out puzzles and deciding on which enemy I should kill or simply avoid to save on ammo. And the Horror aspect has also returned! Many times I found myself walking down dark, narrow corridors and having things jump out at me. Several times I jumped when on the train to work, making myself look a right prat to the other commuters. Although still in no way as freaky as the RE1 remake on GameCube, RER is definately one of the best RE games to be released and I'm hoping on a sequel in the near furture. Graphically I was impressed as it only fits on a cartridge and yet has next generation quality. The 3D was also the deepest 3D effect I've seen on the 3DS so far.

Me'sa giving it a solid 8/10. Enjoy your week people. I'm getting my PSVita tomorrow! Possible girlfriend replacement..? I'll let ya know lol!
 

Top 10 Video Games of 2011

Well hellooooooo there! It's 12:52am on December 25th. Happy Xmas... I think. Anyway I'm up late listening to the Bee Gees (Shhhh they're awesome) and I'm drugged on coffee ready to countdown my top 10 video games of 2011! Let us begin...

10.

FORZA Motorsport 4

YES! Big shock! An X-Box 360 game in my top 10! I, like millions of others of PS3 gamers were dying to get their hands on Gran Tursimo 5 only to find it was... a let down. 5 years in the making and I just couldn't get into it. So after my brother shut up ranting about Gears of War 3, he went out and bought FORZA Motorsport 4 and I gotta say I am impressed! Even on a lesser powerful console the cars look... real! The gameplay is fun and not too realistic unlike GT5. When you're doing 70mph it actually feels like you are doing 70mph. And one of my personal favourite bits is the Achievement of getting a Delorian up to 88mph! Brilliant!

9.

Sonic Generations

The fastest blue Hedgehog in the world returns (The ONLY blue Hedgehog) in a game the fans wanted for so long. A Sonic game where you play as SONIC the whole SONIC and nothing but the SONIC! In his latest adventure SEGA are celebrating 20 years of Sonic by recreating classic levels from the past games and enabling us to play them as Classic Sonic or Modern Sonic. It's the highest rated Sonic game since 'Adventure 2 Battle' on the GameCube back in 2002. As fun as it is I gotta say it's soooo fast that I found the controls quite unresponsive. On several occasions I was speeding through the level and hit the jump button only to have Sonic ignore me. Timing is everything if you want to look stylish in front of your mates!

8.

God of War Collection: Volume 2

The hands of death could not defeat him. The sisters of fate could not hold him. And the PSP could not keep him an exclusive! (Though I have them on PSP too) Yep Kratos made another HD appearance on the PS3 in 720p complete with trophy support. Considering they are originally designed for a smaller screen, the HD upscaling is quite impressive. More so for 'Ghost of Sparta' than 'Chains of Olympus'. The gameplay is less fidgety with the Dualshock 3 controller and more responsive. (And I Platinumed BOTH of those mother fuckers!)

7.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

Another year, another Call of Duty (Or COD to all you casual gamers). This year the franchise returned to the Modern Warfare storyline with even more controversy as World War 3 breaks out and it's up to the USA and UK to stop the Russians from taking over the world. For the past... god knows how many games, Activision has used the same engine to run Call of Duty. There never really is any big changes and other FPS games actually try to be different (Battlefield 3 and RAGE for example). But Call of Duty just always comes out on top! For me it's the story that gets me psyched (Watching the Eiffel Tower collapse was pretty epic). There's not much change to the multiplayer features either. They said it'd be fair like Treyarch's 'Black Ops' but after a few days of people racking up their level, shotguns returned and online is just... shit again. But yes I was down at my local GAME at midnight waiting to get my hands on a copy. Most guys my age probably had their hands on some girls breasts or arse but then... I'm not most guys.

6.

L.A Noire

From the publishers that brought us the Grand Theft Auto series comes this 1950's, Hollywood crime solving, free-sort of-roam game. Great story and the characters are believable with its motion captured faces that are so detailed you notice every wrinkle of the face as they speak. HOWEVER... the gameplay, as impressive as it is at first, soon runs it course. Questioning witnesses and inspecting crime scenes is pretty much all you do. Doesn't matter what desk you're on (Vice, Arson etc) you will always have to tell whether someone is telling the truth or lying. But still mind blowing and something of a landmark in gaming.

5.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D

In the land of Hyrule, there echoes a legend. A legend held dearly by the Royal Family that tells of a boy... A boy who returns in his most epic adventure in 3D! I wasn't planning on getting a Nintendo 3DS until my ex broke up with me. I had to replace her somehow! So I saved my pennies and bought one. And I'm glad I did! I'm no 3D movie fan because I hate wearing the glasses that fall down my face EVERY 2 SECONDS! But with the 3DS this is not an issue and Zelda couldn't look any better! The entire game remains true to the Nintendo 64 original we all fell in love with with a few graphical tweaks and added extras. This game took me back to being a 12 year old all over again.

4.

Assassin's Creed Revelations

Let's get one thing straight... I FUCKING love the Assassin's Creed series! I have EVERY game of the franchise including the Nintendo DS spin-offs. The first Assassin's Creed made it to number 1 in top ten back in 2007. Revelations see's Ezio Auditore return again in search for the ancient Apple of Eden... again. Ezio has been the heroin of the past 3 games (4 if you count 'Discovery' on the DS) and this is his last chapter in the AC series. The gameplay pretty much remains the same with a couple of new things such as bomb crafting and a hook blade. The multiplayer remains as frustrating as Brotherhood unfortunately. Don't get me wrong! The multiplayer is genius! But you have to be in the right game with other players hiding and hunting instead of a bunch of 12 year old n00bs running round like headless chickens, only enabling you to earn a 100 point kill as opposed to a possible 1000+ point kill. Best play it privately with friends.

3.

Metal Gear Solid HD Collection

No it's not out in Europe until Febuary 2012 but FUCK WAITING FOR THAT! So I ordered it off Ebay from a generous extortionist who bought it from the US and sold it for double the price. Not really something I'd do but it's MGS so fuck it! The Metal Gear franchise is like my bread and butter - WAIT - no carbs! Umm... it's my core of gaming. My all time favourite series. So when I heard that 2, 3 and Peace Walker were being released in HD, it was automatically added to my 'Must Get' list. And so I did and oh... my... COD! You'd think the game was made for PS3 the HD is that good - brilliant - sexy - AMAZING! Classic gameplay had my nostalgia levels higher than Hitlers Gas Bill! A must have for all MGS fans or simply people who lost/sold/ate their original copies.

2.

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

Nathan Drake returns in this epic PS3 exclusive to find the Atlantis of the Sands in Drake's Deception. Keeping true to its cinematic gameplay and cutscenes, Uncharted 3 is definitely the best in the series so far. Unfortunately it is also the shortest which kinda sucked. However I enjoyed every second of it with its 'on the edge of your seat' gun fights and environment climbing disasters. My favourite part being the sinking of a cruise ship. Simply fucking epic! (If you're a fan of classical music I highly recommend the soundtrack)

Ok we've had my top 9 but before I reveal my number 1 game of 2011 I wanna quickly mention other games that didn't quite make it into the list. 

Other great games out this year included Skyrim, Deus Ex, Portal 2, Mortal Kombat and Saints Row The Third. All are brilliant in their own ways. I just couldn't bring myself to grant them a spot in my top ten. It's personal opinion after all.

So here it is...

1.

Batman Arkham City

"I am veangence. I am the night. I. AM. BATMAN!" *Creams* Yup! With the hype of Nolan's next installment of the Batman movies: The Dark Knight Rises, the caped crusader rises to my number 1 spot of 2011! This game has it all. Action, puzzles, story and Batman! After the MAJOR success of 'Arkham Asylum' back in 2009 it seems only right that a sequel is released, taking all the features from its predecessor and near enough perfecting them. Kevin Conroy voicing the Dark Knight himself and Luke Skywalk - sorry - Mark Hamill as the Joker gives the game that classic feel from the TV series of my childhood. If you thought the freeflow combat in Asylum was shit hot then FUCK ME in City it is brutally amazing! Aside from playing as Bats you can fill the sexy boots of Catwoman with her own set of moves and story that links into Batmans. Other downloadable characters are the infamous boy wonder: Robin and the slick Nightwing. Though they don't have a set of lines for the combat challenge rooms (even though the thugs call out their names) they both also have their own move set and are just as much fun to use as Batman. This game is essential for any Batman fan. Anyone who hates on it is just either blind, lost their arms or are just plain retarded! As soon as the credits rolled at the end of Nolan's 'Dark Knight' movie my very first thought was "When the fuck is the sequel out!?". Well when I finished this game I thought exactly the same thing! 

Well there ya have it folks. I look forward to trying out what 2012 has to offer in the gaming world. But for now... Humbug to the lot of ya! I'm gonna go on Modern Warfare 3 now before the 5 year old n00bs of the world wake up and get their copy and polute the servers with their annoying, girlish voices.

Peace and Love!

 

STAR WARS The Force Unleashed II

STAR WARS The Force Unleashed II: LucasArts

After months of it's debut teaser trailer back in December 2009's VGA, TFU2 has been on mine and any other STAR WARS fans mind. But finally after much patience on October 29th we finally got our hands on it! From what I've seen there have been mixed reviews. It appears to be a love or hate game and this is what I thought of it...

Story
Set in a short time after the first game we find our hero Starkiller (or Galen Marek for us nerds) is haunted by visions of his past due to him being a clone of the original Starkiller who died in TFU1. But instead of following Darth Vader's commands, Starkiller sets off on a mission of his own to find his love interest from the prequel Juno Eclipse. Along the way he finds General Kota the blind Jedi from the first game who is fighting for the Rebellion just like Juno. But Starkiller's question of who he is or helping the Rebellion comes second to his blind desire of finding Juno in these events leading to Episode IV. But this isn't going to be so easy for Starkiller when Vader hires Boba Fett's services to find Juno and bring her to him so that Starkiller will follow.

One of the most loved by fans SW character, Boba Fett makes a brief cameo.

 
Design
On your path through the game your objectives will mostly consist of escape, acts of sabotage and rescue attempts whilst engaging many battles in narrow hallways and catwalks. Occasionally you endure transit rides and awesome free fall events to break up the gameplay so it doesn't become bleak and repetitive. Amongst the waves of enemies you encounter there is some light platforming, puzzles and environmental hazards to deal with also. You take the game on room by room and in most the next is not accessible until you've wiped out the Stormtroopers, AT-MPs, Droids and later weak Sith guards. Because of Starkillers amazing powers these enemies would not be a threat by themselves which is why they mostly attack in large numbers turning a command deck into a slaughter house. Boss fights are different from the first game due to them going from a button bashing fight in one room to a multiple level fight where the fight consists of you climbing up to face the boss after he's run away after you've depleted some of his onion layered life bar. One boss even includes a free falling finale which I thought was one of the best moments in the game. Once you've fought your way through to the ending and you want to hone your Jedi Master skills some more, there is a Challenge Mode filled with 10 small levels that test your endurance and speed and reward you with a Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum medal depending on how well you perform.

Gameplay
Starkiller's powers are needless to say over the top and awesome. Lightning attacks, throwing enemies around using the Force and this time wielding 2 Lightsabers that he throw like boomerangs. With a quick refilling Force bar, these powers make taking on the Empire a bit easy not to mention the use of checkpoints for when the vast numbers of enemies get that lucky shot. With every enemy you destroy you gain experience points which you can use to power up your Lightsaber or Force skills. These can be kept even as you play through on the hardest difficulty making it not so hard to beat. Some of the combos you can pull off are pretty slick and cool and you can even use Jedi Mind Tricks to make enemies fight for you or make them commit suicide. The quick time feature returns for the larger enemies only this time they are more easier to pull off with only 1 button to press sometimes rather than 4 or 5.

Free falling I think is one of the coolest features in the game.

Presentation
If I look at The Force Unleashed 2 from a gamers perspective I can see that the game is very short, repetitive and more of a chore than an expanding game. But as a STAR WARS fan the only one of those that bothered me was how incredibly short it is. It was great to get hyped about cameos such as Yoda and Boba Fett appearing in the story but their involvement was very small. This didn't bother me either because when it comes to expanding the canon of such a great saga as SW you can't mess about too much with characters already set in stone. Again there are 2 possible endings to choose from decided by walking the path of the Dark Side or the Light Side of the Force. Both endings are left open for a sequel although one more than the other is more for a new game where as Downloadable Content is already covering the other ending (Which I cannot wait for!). People complained it didn't feel like a SW game but I beg to differ. The use of John Williams classic score with a few new tunes made it feel very authentic because as we all know, SW would not be as good without it's epic score. The dialogue of Darth Vader was played very true to the Dark Lords presence in the movies and I wish that we could play as him like we did in the first installment. The story when I first heard about it I thought was unnecessary about Starkiller being a clone but as the game unfolded there were more questions than answers which is more reason for a sequel to be made.

I will just state that one of the reasons for it being so short is because it's technically an unfinished game. The Creative Director Haden Blackman walked out of the project half way through due to the new president of LucasArts: Paul Meegan letting go of some people and scrapping the idea of a 3rd Force Unleashed game (the guy sounds like a right douche if you ask me). BUT... Haden Blackman has formed his own studio called 'Fearless' with the lead engineer of TFU, Cedrick Collomb. Hopefully we will be able to see a Force Unleashed 3 from them with LucasArts approval.

I LOVED The Force Unleashed 2 and straight away it made it's way into the number 1 spot of my top 10 games of 2010 (I know, biased) and it's up to either Call of Duty: Black Ops or Assassins Creed Brotherhood to knock it off the top spot.

I give it (yup, you guessed it) 10/10. May the Force be with us... always.

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light (Eidos/Crystal Dynamics)

Today I recieved STAR WARS The Force Unleashed 2 and have already completed it! The reason I'm not reviewing it this week though is because I want to soak up it completely before I give my very biased opinion. So today I thought I'd share with those who read my reviews my thoughts on the other most recent game I've completed, the new Tomb Raider. Only it's not called Tomb Raider because it's a spin off of the franchise. Which is not something unheard of for the Tomb Raider franchise (Unfinished Business & Golden Mask) though it's been done in a whole new way. But how does our favourite, most gorgeous female action character rank in her new mini adventure?

Story

There's not much build up when it comes to the plot. The game opens with Lara in a temple finding The Mirror of Smoke, an ancient artifact she'd read about and hoped to find. Unfortunately it all turns sour when a group of mercinaries led by a warlord follow her in and take the artifact before Lara can get her hands on it. However they had no idea the mirror was cursed and it brought to life a 2000 year old Keeper of Darkness named Xolotl who aims to use the mirror to take over the world and have revenge on a war he lost 2 milleniums ago. Upon killing the mercs in the room a statue comes to life named Totec, a guardian of the mirror and the very man who imprisoned Xolotl all those years ago. He warns Lara the mirror must be retrieved before the light of dawn or all will be lost. And whether you play alone or in co-op, Lara and Totec will either work together or go seperate ways to stop Xolotl. 

The Mirror of Smoke

Design

Guardian of Light takes a new and different approach to the Tomb Raider series in the fact that it uses an isometric projection, a method for visually representing three-dimensional objects in two dimensions (Or simply put: the camera is far away from the character) and a co-op game too. When playing through single player or with a friend there are a large variety of puzzles to be solved and this is the game's strong point as it is with all Tomb Raider games. Although they can be played alone it's more fun to pull Totec up with Lara's grapple hook, jumping off Totec's shield and working together in other ways in co-op. When the game was announced it was said to have online co-op but unfortunately the development for that was pushed back until only recently and having said that, only 360 users can enjoy that luxury and PS3 and PC owners are still waiting for the patch that enables this missing feature. Until then anyone with the PS3 version will have to have a spare controller and friend to play with. 

 

Gameplay
The gameplay mostly consists of you or you and your partner solving puzzles and killing the enormous waves of enemies with a large inventory of weapons to choose from. By completing certain challenge objectives such as reaching the end of the level in a certain time or aquiring enough points, you can unlock other various weapons, artifacts and relics that give Lara or Totec a boost in defence, weapon, bomb etc. Besides that method there are a number of tombs with puzzles specifically designed to find relics and artifacts hidden in the levels. The controls are easy to get the hang of with a simple aiming system that requires you to hold down the right analog stick in the direction you wish to fire and a shoulder button to pull the trigger. The same control system used in games such as Super Stardust HD minus the shoulder button for firing. There are 14 stages to complete. 4 of those being boss fights. The stages can take time to finish although if you skip enemies and you just want to go for the time limit bonus objective then some levels can be done from 6 minutes to 14 minutes.

Presentation
When I saw the first screenshots of this game and heard it was downloadable only, I had my doubts. It didn't look like a Tomb Raider game and certainly didn't look to feel like one either. When the trial came to the Playstation Store I put it on a 5 hour download and eventually gave it a go. And I must say I was surprised and very impressed with the demo alone. The music keeps you on suspence, the combat was adrenaline fueled and the puzzles were fun to figure out. Graphically it doesn't stand next to say Tomb Raider Underworld but it's not far off and in terms of gameplay I prefere it to Underworld! In Underworld there were too many puzzles and not enough enemies where as GoL has a great balance of both. I hope to see more of this genre in the future whether it be downloadable content or a sequel and if Crystal Dynamics want to make a completely new Tomb Raider game then they should take some ideas and features from this one. I enjoyed it very much and am proud to give it a 9/10.